MA Music: Composition

Our internationally-renowned composition staff work across a range of styles and media and our students are similarly diverse. Solo or orchestral music, electronic or acoustic, notated, improvised or devised – all of these are valued at York. You'll encounter a wide variety of approaches, but no prescriptions.

You'll join a lively community of postgraduate composers and the rich creative environment of the Department of Music, receiving one-to-one tuition and studying the established and emerging techniques in this exciting and constantly developing field.

Contemporary music has been a cornerstone of the Department since its foundation. From early visits from Cage, Feldman and Shostakovich and the creation of pioneering electroacoustic works by Trevor Wishart and Dennis Smalley to the Proms commissions, Glastonbury appearances and international tours of recent alumni such as Anna Meredith, Kerry Andrew and Christian Mason, York has a long history of nurturing extraordinary talent.

Discovering your compositional voice and presenting it with clarity in compelling, innovative music is a lifelong project. Our MA is designed to help you develop the skills to pursue this, whatever your career aspirations.